What Makes Someone A Lifestyle "Expert"?

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Life! Experience! The desire to be one! Trials! Errors! Successes! Failures! People!  For me, it’s been about people, personally and professionally.  I am a “nurturer” by nature and thus glean tremendous satisfaction from serving, pleasing, doing, and making life as beautiful as I can for others, as well as for myself.  I think some people are naturally born with an innate desire to create "a story" for everything. That would be me. The stories are visions in my head waiting to be turned into realities. The "story" of a Lifestyle expert’s LIFE is usually swathed in a bit of drama, accompanied by an untamed exuberance for beauty and perfection, or STYLE,  as it may be. But the end goal is always about “making the ordinary extraordinary”.  It’s an unrelenting driving force that powers up each waking day.  The simplest thing, like neatly folding the edge of the toilet paper into a clever little point can say, “someone is going the extra step”.  Or piling snowy white, fluffy monogrammed towels, all folded the same way, neatly into the linen closet just says, “why not mimic the beauty of a fancy hotel in your own home?”  Take a minute to order personalized pencils for your desk. Design some monogramed paper cocktail napkins to place your morning cup of coffee on.  Style your at-home cooking with a sprig of parsley. Burn a candle for aromatherapy. Spend for good soap. You deserve it. Your guests deserve it. Figure out who you are and what your style is and become that!  It doesn't take money.  It takes effort. And a little love.

 The art of being a LIFESTYLE EXPERT can come from on-the-job training, as well.  Much of my own "training" has come from decades of experience in community involvement, volunteerism and fundraising efforts of grand proportions, which trained me in schedules, timeframes, how to calculate food for numbers of guests, teamwork and advance prep work. I often found myself thrown into the middle of party planning venues, table designs, gourmet food presentations and tent and table design, working with the most talented people, from whom I learned so much and who continually, knocked my socks off! 

On a professional level, my passion for beautiful homes and lifestyles continued on a bit of a more serious note, as I became a top-producing real estate agent, and President of the Premier Homes Collection for my company.  As an Exceptional Property Specialist I represented multi-million dollar properties on Connecticut’s Gold Coast and in the countryside.  I learned how to stage homes, magnificent homes, from the absolute best in the industry, and worked with designers from all walks of life to present these grand estates in all their brilliance.

It’s the learning that never stops.  It’s a thirst for inspiration that grows everyday.  It’s a never-ending quest for beauty.  It's what keeps me awake at night and what gets me out of bed in the morning…

"I’m going to make everything around me Beautiful – that will be my life."
- Elsie de Wolfe

My Life Experiences Tell My Story

  • Live on Martha Stewart Sirius radio presenting my famous “Lobsta’ Bloody Merry” (Christmas specialty up on the blog)

  • Social Chairperson for the New Haven Junior League of CT

  • Co-Chair of New Haven Symphony Orchestra black tie events

  • Chair of the annual New Haven Symphony Orchestra's "Picnic in the Park" ( A Gatsby fabulousness)

  • Co-Chair of the New Haven Historical Society black tie balls

  • Board member and Events Co-Chair of the British Art Museum and Yale Art Galley

  • Co-Chair of Tent and Table Design for 800 guests at the home of Martha Stewart to benefit Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and honor Designer Mario Buatta

  • Co-Chair black-tie fundraising events at Hopkins School, Greens Farm Academy and Fairfield Country Day School

  • House Captain for Fairfield County’s Annual Near and Far House Tour

  • Exceptional Property Real Estate Specialist for over a decade, representing multi-million dollar client owners of grand estates on CT Gold Coast and in the Countryside

  • President of Premier Homes Collection , Al Filippone Associates/William Raveis Real Estate

  • Award for the Real Estate Agent who most utilized the home staging process!

  • Lifestyle Contributor for New England Fine Living Magazine

  • Stylist for Nantucket Magazine’s holiday shoot

  • Tastemaker Instagram Takeover for 41 Madison NY NOW, the premier address with 23 floors of tabletop design

  • Lifestyle Expert public speaker Next up: Light Up the Season at the Four Season’s Hotel Georgetown to benefit the National Children’s Hospital